John Zogby’s poll numbers, in my opinion, are the best in the business. The latest tracking poll just before Tuesday’s debate shows McCain trailing Obama by a mere two points.
This is simply HUGE. A collapsing economy, an unpopular war, a 72-year-old Republican candidate with tepid support from his own party’s base — and Obama is only ahead by two points weeks before Election Day!
This means a couple of things to me. First, McCain can still win this. Second, Obama is a deeply flawed candidate that Americans have grave reservations about.
As Zogby said today in a Newsmax.tv interview, Obama hasn’t “sealed the deal.”
Vote Fraud
Obama’s folks have been allaying Democratic fears (perhaps nightmares now) by noting the huge number of new voter registrations in the swing states. A Democratic insider tells me that 2 million new voters have been registered.
Some Republicans scoff at these efforts, remarking that groups like ACORN file registrations for the homeless and other people who don’t vote. But that’s the whole point of vote fraud and why these registrations help Democrats. The people whose names are registered don’t vote — someone else votes for them.
How does this work? Take an inner city voting precinct. Voter turnout should be either equal or below national voting patterns, but instead, it’s Election Day, and they are reporting 80 percent voter turnout. Amazing!
Without adequate oversight of Republican poll watchers, Democratic machines that control these wards can simply, at the end of the night, “vote” for the many voters who didn’t show up. So, all of these new registrations — even if they are for people who don’t really exist — amount to more votes at the end of the night.
They don’t teach this in your college poli sci course, but that’s one of the main ways voter fraud works.
Democratic Defections
Obama and his supporters are ignoring the large number of Clinton Democrats who are not buying in to his “change” campaign.
McCain is holding his Republican base. He also appeals to moderate voters owing to his “maverick” reputation. Obama brings the African-American vote and the hardcore left of the party — unions, special interests, and the like. But remember all of these groups were voting for the Democrats anyway.
In 2004, Kerry kept the Clinton base and was almost able to win. Obama’s Achilles' heel are these lower-income, white Democratic voters who don’t like his extreme liberal record on abortion, guns, taxes, and other issues. It’s not about race, it’s about his views.
The Moderate Obama Ad
Here in Florida, Obama is reaching out to these Democratic voters with ads about his sensible healthcare program.
One ad, interestingly, decries government run healthcare. Obama also slams the the private care we have today.
Obama claims that his plan is quite sensible and is a “middle” position: He wants everyone to keep their insurance just as they currently have it, with their own doctor, but his plan will bring down prices while forcing insurance companies to accept pre-existing conditions and preventative care for those covered.
Sound wonderful, doesn’t it? Such social programs always sound wonderful. The problem is, government can’t simply force insurance companies to lower premiums and then demand they insure people with pre-existing medical care and, while we’re at it, offer them more “preventative” care — whatever that means.
Well, Obama and his plan could do it if he is elected, but it spells bankruptcy for health insurers. Such a plan will force medical providers to give the most bare-bones care for those it insures.
It’s the Economy, Stupid
Obama is playing the economy like a violin. The worse it gets, the more votes he’ll reap on Eection Day.
Perhaps.
This past weekend Jack Welch, the former chairman of GE, was on Fox News. He explained the key to saving the economy is to get people buying homes again.
How right he is. The collapse of the credit markets and now the stock market, find their roots in the housing market. Home prices collapsed as sales of homes dwindled. Financial institutions are reeling from mortgage-backed securities they hold but are believed to be worthless.
The key to restoring the value of the underlying mortgage paper is to first stabilize home prices, then get folks buying homes. This will inevitably cause prices to rise again.
Simple? Yes, it is.
Months ago, I conducted an interview with renowned UCLA economist Edward Leamer for Newsmax’s Financial Intelligence Report.
He said then that the housing market could be turned around by offering new home buyers a ,000 tax credit. Sound better than a trillion dollar giveaway to Wall Street? And with home prices low, it’s actually a good time to buy.
Odd. Instead of curing the underlying problem, policy-makers at the Fed and Washington would rather throw money away by using our cash for trash securities.
But the financial crisis has given Wall Street a dream gift: The U.S. taxpayer will take Wall Street's bad assets off their balance sheets. Not bad for a day’s work at the bank. |